Sam Slom

Sam Slom
Member of the Hawaii Senate from the 9th district
In office 1996–2017
Succeeded by	Stanley Chang
Personal details
Born	(1942-04-13) April 13, 1942 (age 74) Allentown, Pennsylvania
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Divorced
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Jewish

Samuel Morgan "Sam" Slom (born April 13, 1942) is an American politician. Slom was the sole Republican member of the Hawaii Senate from 2010 until his defeat in 2016. Between 1996 and 2016, Slom represented the 9th District, which includes Hawaii Kai, Aina Haina, Kahala and Diamond Head on the island of Oahu. As the sole Republican senator, he was the senate minority leader and floor leader of the Hawaiian Senate. He also served on all 16 Senate committees and on every special committee and subcommittee. He is a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Slom formerly served as chief economist for the Bank of Hawaii. Slom is the president and executive director of Smart Business Hawaii, a chamber of commerce that says it is more small business-oriented than the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

In 1996, Slom challenged incumbent Democrat Donna R. Ikeda to represent the 8th district in the Senate of Hawaii. Slom won the election, defeating Ikeda, 12,191 votes to 7,312. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin called the election a "huge election night upset".

Slom was the sole Republican in the 25-member Senate between 2010 and 2017. Slom technically served on all sixteen Senate committees but obviously he could not physically attend all of the meetings. He had to depend on a Democratic colleague to second every motion that he made on the Senate floor (otherwise, the motion dies for lack of a second). Lynn Finnegan, an outgoing Republican member of the Hawaii House of Representatives who ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, described Slom's challenge as communicating with Republican constituents across the state who will pressure Democratic lawmakers to consider alternative proposals on some issues.

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